I am a political scientist at Denison University specializing in religion and politics, social networks, and political behavior. I am an affiliated scholar with Public Religion Research Institute, the editor of the Religious Engagement in Democratic Politics series with Temple UP. I was the coeditor of Politics & Religion (2011-2016). And I blog primarily for religioninpublic.blog, but did for 538, the Monkey Cage, and others.

Data

Replication Data for: Reconsidering the Role of Politics in Leaving Religion – The Importance of Affiliation

Description These files build datasets from raw to working data files to replicate the analyses (main paper and SI) in our article set to appear in American Journal of Political Science.

2013 APSA Peer Review Survey

Description The data come from responses to a random sample of about 600 members of the American Political Science Association with PhD in hand conducted in October 2013. APSA drew the sample (of 3000), administered the survey, and deleted identifying information of participants (as well as emeriti faculty) before turning the data over to me.

ELCA/Episcopal Church Clergy Study, 1998.

Description The data come from a random national sample of 1,339 ELCA pastors and 901 Episcopal priests and deacons who responded to an extensive mail survey in the summer and fall of 1998. A second wave was sent two months after the first survey; second-wave respondents did not differ in significant ways from first-wave respondents. The authors’ personal affiliation with an ELCA-affiliated college (which was disclosed to survey recipients on the survey’s cover page) almost certainly accounts for the considerably higher response rate from ELCA pastors. This extensive survey with more than 350 individual questions captures essential information about clergy, their congregations, and aspects of the local community. The survey asked a broad range of questions about their personal backgrounds and their theological orientations. It asked about the frequency and means by which they present political messages and take political actions within and beyond their congregations. It also asked about their personal political attitudes and actions. The survey also gained information about how their congregations compare with others in the local community and in the denomination. It also gained information about how often and in what ways clergy interact with their community and denominational clergy colleagues. Finally, clergy offered their views on denominational organizations and issues. They told us what political and religious information sources they used on a regular basis.

ELCA/Episcopal Church Congregation Study, 1999-2000

Description The ELCA/Episcopal Church study proceeded from the belief that we must capture as many aspects of congregational life as possible in order to evaluate the political salience of the diverse information sources within the church environment. The congregant survey paralleled the clergy survey, asking a wide range of questions about members’ congregation, clergy and political behavior, including political motivation and partisanship, civic skill practice, social recruitment into politics and political participation. The survey also asked about social theology, issue importance, group involvement, political opinions, voting behavior and demographics, among other topics. N=1551 individuals in 56 congregations.

American Rabbi Study, 2000

Description The data result from a mail survey of rabbis conducted in the fall and winter of 2000 in the four major movements of American Judaism—Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, and Reform. The first wave was sent two days before the presidential election. The data collection effort loosely paralleled the 2000 Cooperative Clergy Study format but differed in several important respects to capture concerns important to the Jewish community. The survey effort collected data on rabbi political activism, public political speech, political attitudes and electoral choices, thoughts on the role of religion in society, attitudes on issues related to Jewish unity and Jewish law, ratings of and membership in Jewish and secular political organizations, attitudes about Joseph Lieberman, and personal attributes, as well as aspects of congregations. N=402.